At the grand old age of 23, I must admit that sometimes it would be a no brainer choice if it came to a crazy weekend rave versus a chilled night at the ballet (perhaps with some vino) Luckily that's not the sort of rave I'm talking about. Here is my current rundown of all things awesome:
ghd Style & Protect*
I got a nice anon comment on tumblr asking me if I had any haircare tips. Apart from having a mum as a hairdresser (who makes sure I'm on my best behavior and treating my locks well) I switch my shampoo and conditioner quite regularly. At the moment I am using Aussie Colour Mate, which I like as it makes my hair feel 'clean' rather than full of product and yucky residue. I am very naughty and wash, blowdry and straighten my hair every day (which I know you really should not do) - so have recently been using products from the ghd Style & Protect range.
The gift set above *(which was kindly gifted to me for my consideration and ruthless honesty )contained a lovely paddle brush and clips for sectioning your hair. I normally just 'blast' my hair with the hairdryer, then rely on straightners to bring my fuzz back down to earth! But this brush has been giving me much more control over blow drying and I have found there is less straightening to do when I take my time and make use of this nice big brush. All the better for my hair too. I use the Style & Smooth spray after towel drying my hair slightly (which contains the ghd heat protection system) then finish off with the Final Shine spray once I have straightened it.
I don't like my hair to be poker straight, so I tend to ruffle up some bits afterwards for a little volume. A skoosh of hairspray and that's pretty much it! I love the smell of these products, and again they don't feel heavy on your hair at all. I also feel slightly less guilty knowing that I am using some sort of heat protection against the hairdryer and straightners every day. This is the first time since I was 16 that my hair is all the one colour, and it is getting so long too. Do you use much in the way of hair care products? Or are you one of http://www.ghdhair.com/hair-products people that come home from the hairdressers and need to wash it straight away?
My simple silver skull necklace
You will probably know by now how much I really don't get away with wearing fussy necklaces due to the swallow tattoos on my chest. I feel like it all ends up looking a bit cluttered and silly. So when I stumble across little gems like this necklace from the Ortak Charming collection, I end up wearing it for weeks on end. My favourites were the skull, wishbone and anchor, but I ended up channeling my inner goth by choosing this one. Mind you I've recently swapped my nose ring for a sparkly stud, which does feel much more girly and will hopefully keep the family happy for christmas photographs haha.
Changing my room around
Because having a good old clear out and rearranging the furniture never fails to make me feel better! I had a big swapsie of my furniture and frames etc on the walls, and have ended up with a lot of floor space which I wish I had utilised before now (for hyper bedroom dancing and the 30 day shred) I also got this belter of a mirror from Ikea, which I am enjoying very much. Not because I am vain, promise! It's just so much easier when it comes to getting ready in the morning. Plus every time Dexter catches his reflections in it he does that funny fluffed up sideways run that cats do when they're hyper/scared. I do that too when I catch a glimpse of myself in the morning en route to the bathroom. NOT A PRETTY SIGHT!
Afternoon tea
Because you know why :) I booked an afternoon tea down at the lovely Aston Hotel in Dumfries, with the remainder of the voucher I had left from my bungee jump challenge with Ladbrokes. This was a much calmer experience than the previous post I did for them, but still just as lovely! I was still quite nervous on the journey down, because after tea we headed along to Greig's house and I met my Grandpa (Greig and my Dad's Dad) for the first time in my life. I have been thrown some tricky situations and emotional challenges over the last couple of years, but that day will stick in my head forever and has certainly been worth the 23 years wait ♥
Stylefruits
Shamelessly trawling the internet for winter outfit inspiration (I will be able to tell you IN FULL, why, in the next couple of posts) because it really does seem like my winter wardrobe is just my summer wardrobe with tights and a jacket added. Stylefruits, which recently launched in the UK has been like an online mood board for me. It has an exciting edge to the usual window shopping, as you can then click through to buy your outfits through the partnered sites. I've explored similar built webpages in the past, which often have great ranges of brands but you'll find most of the clothing are on sale with limited sizes or completely sold out when you click through to their original source. I haven't experienced this problem with Stylefruits, so all thumbs up from me and so far so good :)
Secret Santa
I took part in the Money Supermarket Secret Santa Challenge, and was so excited when a mystery parcel arrived through the door a couple of days ago. I was paired with Helen from The Love Cats Inc, and as you can see above she has pretty much hit the nail on the head with these presents! Along with some yummy chocolates from M&S, she got me black and sparkly Rimmel nail varnish, red Kate Moss lipstick, an initial tote bag, the One Good Atom tshirt I mentioned a few posts back, and a Lazy Oaf notebook. Helen must have been doing her homework, as all these pressies are very me, and I'm super impressed how well she did with the budget of £25. She also left a lovely wee message inside the notebook for me :) Thank you so much Helen! I hope you liked your present (which I thiiink you have opened by now) so be sure to head on over to her blog to see what I bought her. Do you have any particularly funny/great/terrible secret santa stories to share?
Now that I have stopped raving (with glow sticks and all) here is the Ballet:
I went to see the Nutcracker by Scottish Ballet at the Theatre Royal on the opening night, and it was absolutely breathtaking. I have always been so impressed with the previous Ballet performances I have seen there, but there was something about this one that just took it to the next level for me. The dancing and the music were impeccable as they always are, with some particular moves that made my jaw drop. More like acrobatics than anything else! But what particularly stood out for me this time was the set and costumes. More so than any I have seen previously! My favourite pieces were the giant pocket watch and glittering landscape backdrop, they were just beautiful. Coming from a theatre background as a scenic painter, I feel like I could melt over production designs like this, which are so original with their own stylistic attention to detail which helps your imagination explore and get ever more immersed in the story.
Greig didn't think the ballet would be for him (which I initially thought too, as I'm sure a lot of people do) but he really enjoyed it and was glad I brought him along. If you're looking for a last minute christmas present to buy (I know we often tend to stick to socks and gadgets from the likes of Gizoo and I want one of those when it comes to gifts for men) then the Nutcracker is about to go on tour if you want to buy tickets! It's okay, we can all just blame Greig if the guys hate it ;) And I bet you the only reason would be the envy over the male ballet dancers rock solid bodies and insane strength! The Nutcracker is in Glasgow until the 29th of December, then heads on to Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, Belfast and Newcastle. So let me know if you book up and what you think of it.
It's beginning to look a lot like... ♥ :)
Ayden x